Located just north of Monument Circle, the history of this park can be traced to 1827 when the State designated this area as a future university. As many plans that are made, a university was never developed. Thus, we have the name of University Park.
A seminary was built on the land and existed for only eight years from 1852 to 1860. Then, the land was cleared to prepare the Union Soldiers for an upcoming confrontation with Morgan's Raiders during the Civil War. Once the war ended the land was transformed into the above park with the fountain as the center of attraction.
Gracing the park are statues and sculptures. A statue of Abraham Lincoln on the southeast corner has fascinated me from early childhood.
Statues of Schulyer Colfax an Indiana resident and Vice President under Ulysses E. Grant, Indiana's only President, Benjamin Harrison can be observed as you walk through the park.
Growing up, our family attended a church at the corner to the left of the War Memorial. Another church was on the right corner. Both churches were purchased in order to complete the building in the background.
Located on Monument Circle, the oldest church still in use in Indianapolis, Christ Church Cathedral, is dwarfed by modern construction. The early Gothic Revival construction stands out amidst the glass and steel buildings of modern times.
When you enter the cathedral, you are greeted by Tiffany stained glass windows and beautiful architectural sights.
As you continue around Monument Circle, you will come to the old Circle Theater, now home to our Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
As a youngster, this was one of three movie theaters to visit in downtown Indianapolis. Every Thanksgiving evening would find me and my many cousins being driven to a movie. That was my highlight of every Thanksgiving, not the turkey dinner.
The Circle Theater's next door neighbor is the Circle Tower built in the Art Deco style.
Note the Egyptology style panels on the columns. It is said that the discovery of King Tutankhamen's Tomb in 1921, eight years prior to the construction of Circle Tower had a huge effect on the the sculpture's work.
After experiencing success, the developers of the Circle Theater, launched a new, better, bigger and more extravagant theater called the Indiana Theater.
The building with a facade of Terra Cotta becoming the most ordinate building in Indianapolis.
The Indiana theater building with a possible capacity of 3,200 people contained a barber shop, a lunch counter and a bowling alley in addition to the movie theater. Now that is a forward thinking place. You could have lunch at the counter, get a haircut and bowl a few frames before going to your favorite movie.
If a movie sounds dull, you can continue south two blocks to
the Banker's Life Fieldhouse and watch an Indiana Pacers or Fever basketball game.
If basket ball is not your interest, how about the Indianapolis Colts? If you go to a Colts game you will enter the Lucas Oil statement, better known as the "house that Peyton Manning built." But Peyton is no longer here and now we have good Luck.
Two or three blocks north of Lucas Oil Stadium is Victory Field, home of baseball farm team the Indianapolis Indians.
With all the sights
previously mentioned
in today's blog, you can
end your day at Victory Field, relax with some peanuts, popcorn or Cracker Jacks.
Thank you for joining me on today's tour of the center of Indianapolis. Feel free to ask questions about Indianapolis and central Indiana. I will try to answer each one.
God bless y'all
When you enter the cathedral, you are greeted by Tiffany stained glass windows and beautiful architectural sights.
As a youngster, this was one of three movie theaters to visit in downtown Indianapolis. Every Thanksgiving evening would find me and my many cousins being driven to a movie. That was my highlight of every Thanksgiving, not the turkey dinner.
The Circle Theater's next door neighbor is the Circle Tower built in the Art Deco style. Note the Egyptology style panels on the columns. It is said that the discovery of King Tutankhamen's Tomb in 1921, eight years prior to the construction of Circle Tower had a huge effect on the the sculpture's work.
The building with a facade of Terra Cotta becoming the most ordinate building in Indianapolis.
The Indiana theater building with a possible capacity of 3,200 people contained a barber shop, a lunch counter and a bowling alley in addition to the movie theater. Now that is a forward thinking place. You could have lunch at the counter, get a haircut and bowl a few frames before going to your favorite movie.
If a movie sounds dull, you can continue south two blocks to
the Banker's Life Fieldhouse and watch an Indiana Pacers or Fever basketball game.
If basket ball is not your interest, how about the Indianapolis Colts? If you go to a Colts game you will enter the Lucas Oil statement, better known as the "house that Peyton Manning built." But Peyton is no longer here and now we have good Luck.
Two or three blocks north of Lucas Oil Stadium is Victory Field, home of baseball farm team the Indianapolis Indians. With all the sights
previously mentioned
in today's blog, you can
end your day at Victory Field, relax with some peanuts, popcorn or Cracker Jacks.
Thank you for joining me on today's tour of the center of Indianapolis. Feel free to ask questions about Indianapolis and central Indiana. I will try to answer each one.
God bless y'all
NEWS FLASH..... ! ! ! ! ! !..... WE FOUND THE WARP!
DOUBLE NEWS FLASH ....! ! ! ! ! !......WE ARE NOW UNDER A TORNADO WARNING.....
DOUBLE NEWS FLASH ....! ! ! ! ! !......WE ARE NOW UNDER A TORNADO WARNING.....
Love some of the midwest architecture. We actually have an old building in Klamath Falls (our population is less than 30K) that is in that Egyptology style and a couple of really cool art deco buildings as well. The Egyptology building is in terrible disrepair, but we are hoping the the economy will eventually improve enough that it can be restored.
ReplyDeleteSue, I did not appreciate the architecture of Indianapolis until I began writing this series. There is such a wealth of design and artistry here, as in most cities. I soak it in in other cities as we travel, but overlooked it here in my hometown.
DeleteThanks for the tour but I have two questions. What about those little green apples and does it rain in Indianapolis in the Summertime?
ReplyDeletePhyllis, every time I went into our yard, I would think of that song as I stood under our 5 trees that had little green apples! And it rains approximately every 10 days in the summertime, unless there is a huge dry spell.
DeleteIt is so funny that you thought of that song. I thought I was the only one.
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ReplyDeleteI think the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce needs you on their payroll. Excellent tour!
ReplyDeleteWe stopped there last spring just for two nights to visit friends in Carmel, which is a wonderful area. We said at the time that we need to come back and spend more time in Indianapolis. You are just helping us see we do need to come back. Great tour!
ReplyDeleteSpring and Fall are the best times to visit.
DeleteThanks for the great narrated tour of the city, it was very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteJust watched the news this morning! Are you ok?
ReplyDeleteWe are fine. The bad, bad weather went both north and south of us. We feel blessed.
ReplyDelete